I haven't had a proper setup to BBQ for awhile when I learned on my dad's offset 20 years ago, but my wife and I bought a house last year and as is tradition for any self-respecting white dude barreling towards the other side of middle age, my next big purchase was a Traeger Woodridge Elite pellet grill.
I tried a bit of everything over the summer – brisket, pork butt, salmon, tri-tip, ribeyes, elotes, mac and cheese, and french onion soup stuffed cornish game hens (it was a phase). Some were bigger successes than others, but all were pretty fantastic. My kids are going back to school in a few weeks one size up and happy.
Gonna throw up some recipes for what I have here if anyone wants to give anything a shot.
by JimothyTheBold
6 Comments
Smoked Mac & Cheese Recipe:
1lbs uncooked Cavatappi Pasta
¼ cup butter
¼ cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon dried thyme
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
⅛ teaspoon white pepper
3 cups milk
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 pinch ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
½ cup panko bread crumbs
1 tablespoon butter, melted
I almost always swap out cheeses depending on what I’m making for a main dish, but the goat cheese is key:
1 medium block (~2 cups) white cheddar
1 small block smoked guddha
1 cup extra sharp irish cheddar
4 oz unflavored goat cheese
1 cup parmesan
Step 1: Preheat Smoker to 300F° using your preferred wood, but I recommend a simple hickory. If baking, preheat oven to 350F.
Step 2: Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook cavatappi in the boiling water, stirring occasionally, until al dente, about 6 minutes. Drain and set aside.
Step 3: Melt 1/4 cup butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. When butter starts to foam and bubble, stir in flour; cook on medium heat until flour begins to turn pale yellow, 3 to 4 minutes.
Step 4: Add thyme, cayenne, paprila, and white pepper; cook and stir another minute, then whisk in 1 cup milk until smooth. Pour in remaining milk and whisk again. Bring sauce to a simmer.
Step 5: Stir in salt, worcestershire sauce, and nutmeg. Simmer, whisking often, on medium-low heat until thickened, about 8 minutes.
Step 6: Turn heat to low, then slowly add grated cheese; stir until melted and combined. Mix in Dijon mustard.
Step 7: Transfer cavatappi into a 8×8-inch casserole dish, then pour in cheese sauce; stir to thoroughly combine pasta with sauce.
Step 8: Mix together panko bread crumbs and 1 tablespoon melted butter in a small bowl.
Step 9: Sprinkle bread crumb mixture over top of macaroni, then sprinkle with grated cheddar/parmesan.
Step 10: Transfer casserole dish to smoker/oven, and cook for 60-90 minutes or until cheese on top is brown and cheese sauce is bubbling.
Step 11: Allow 5-10 minutes to rest and cool before serving.
Uncle Hemmy BBQ’s Maple Smoked Salmon Recipe:
https://www.reddit.com/r/smoking/s/KY1n1mD8fm
I made it pretty much following the recipe to the letter for this but with a little less time on the grill because mine doesn’t go below 180F, so I put it on Super Smoke with Pecan pellets and let it run until it got to temp. I brined for about 12 hours and had to shortcut the pellicle phase a bit but it still came out phenomenal.
I grew up on the east coast and bagels and lox are one of my favorites, so I whipped up that with the leftovers. Pretty simple, it is what you see – smoked salmon (nova lox), cream cheese, fresh chives, red onion, capers, and some dill weed sprinkled over it. One of my all time favorite breakfasts though.
Mushroom Risotto:
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/85389/gourmet-mushroom-risotto/?lr_input=8c952cf6b1c960a410fc1513f582590d1ac1888e73d68e2fd73dcd413c278542&kw=myrecipes
Oven Roasted Asparagus:
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/214931/oven-roasted-asparagus/?lr_input=8c952cf6b1c960a410fc1513f582590d1ac1888e73d68e2fd73dcd413c278542&kw=myrecipes
Looks great my dude
Here is the recipe for the French Onion Soup Stuffed Cornish Game Hens, this is enough for 8 hens.
This one I came up with on a whim with some frozen game hens we were gifted. Ended up one of the best chicken dishes I’ve ever had and was a huge hit with the entire family.
Highly recommend taking a gamble and trying this one out if you’re feeling adventurous:
Prep Time:
Brining – 4-6 hours
Cooking – 2.5-4 hours
Ingredients:
50/50 Pecan/Apple wood
Brine:
1 gallon (16 cups) water
3/4 cup coarse kosher salt
1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup dry sage
1/4 cup dry basil
2 whole bulbs of garlic, crushed and chopped
1 1/2 tbsp whole black peppercorn
2 large bay leaves
Soup Filling Mix:
4 large red onions
4 large sweet onions
1 stick (8 tbsp) butter
2 tsp fresh thyme
1 1/2 cup beef stock
Salt & Pepper to taste
Game Hens:
8 whole cornish game hens, with neck and giblets removed
Your favorite poultry rub
Smoked Gouda, Gruyere, Mozzarella, and Parmesan cheeses
Directions
Step 1: Heat 16 cups water of water over med-high heat in a large stock pot. Add salt, sugar, dried thyme, dried sage, black peppercorns, garlic bulbs, and bay leaves while stirring frequently. Heat for ~30 minutes until salt and sugar are fully dissolved, then remove from heat and cover with a lid. Allow to sit and steep for ~90 minutes and place in refrigerator covered for 1-2 hours.
Step 2: Remove game hens from packaging and ensure giblets have been removed from the carcass and remove necks. Place them in a suitable container that will allow all 8 hens to lay flat breast-side down – I used a standard collapsible bbq bin for this. Pour brine over hens, ensuring the hens are fully submerged. Seal container and set in fridge for 3-3 1/2 hours.
Step 3: Preheat smoker to 200F and place hens breast-side down on the grill after patting dry and applying your favorite poultry rub. You will slowly start raising the smoker temp from 200 to 225 to 275 to 300 to 350 over the next ~2 hours until internal temp reads 165 in the thickest part of the breast and thigh.
Step 4: While hens are cooking, begin caramelizing onions for soup mix. Start by melting a stick of butter over medium heat in a cast iron, but do not raise temp too high and burn the butter. Slice 4 red onions in thick rings, then cut rings once to halve them before placing in the skillet (do red onions and begin cooking them first, they take longer to caramelize than the sweet onions). Repeat with sweet onions, then add 1 1/2 tsp fresh thyme, salt, pepper and continue stirring frequently until onions are caramelized fully. Once onions are caramelized, add beef stock and simmer for ~1 hour.
Step 5: Before pulling the hens when internal temp hits 165F, create “bowls” with heavy duty aluminum foil by folding a large sheet in half once, then a smaller fold on each end. Remove hens from the smoker by draining liquid into your grill’s grease trap, placing the hen neck opening down into the base of the foil bowl, then wrapping the hen so that the bottom half is fully wrapped tightly in foil and setting butt-side up vertically on a cooking tray.
Step 6: Use tongs or another device to open the bottom of the chicken as fully as possible. Begin stuffing by first placing a layer of gouda/mozzarella/parmesan cheese at the bottom of the hen where the neck opening is – the idea is to let this melt to create a sort of “cap” to seal in the soup mix. Then add onion soup mix generously until carcass is filled, and pour any extra between side of the foil and the hen. Stuff another layer of gruyere/gouda/parmesan on the top and sprinkle generously over the exposed chicken. Sprinkle top with remaining 1/2 tsp of fresh thyme.
Step 7: Place tray of hens back into smoker set to 350F for 30 minutes, then increasing heat to 400F until cheese is fully melted and browned. Remove tray, allow to rest 10-15 minutes, then place hens on serving plates, and remove aluminum foil before serving.
Step 8: THIS STEP IS MOST VITAL Before discarding foil, remove crispy gooey cheese that soaked up all those juices from the bottom of the bowl and devour immediately.
What was your favorite thing to cook? Favorite thing to eat?
Thanks for the recipes too my friend. Anyone who shares recipes is good people. Thank you!
It was either smoke meats or develop an unhealthy obsession with WWII history. You did well.